​How to change a guitar string

​​This is a fun little video our friend Marty Schwarts of guitarjamz.com came and shot one day while i was working on an old Gibson J 45 in the guitar repair shop in Carlsbad, Ca. it's full of that's what she said's and Steve Carell ish humor! Hope you like it! haha get it LIKE IT!

 that would be a Facebookisim! :0)

Vintage Les Paul for $20

_{You know those stories you always hear about people finding vintage guitars in someone's yard sale or buried in someone's garage? you know like a Fender Strat, Tele or an old Gibson Guitar. Well here is a story about one of those, yes one of those! being a guitar repair man i cant tell you how many times over the years i have had these finds come across my bench. Whether they are real old vintage or recent vintage, it doesn't matter especially when you only pay $20 for one of them! Chris the guitar and key player of the band The Forty Nineteens knows just how cool it is to find and old 1970's Gibson Les Paul at some garage sale and for a steal at that! This guitar came to me in need of some love and attention. The Les Paul had a low neck angle it was obvious that someone in the past had attempted to do some finish work on this baby and left it in disarray.} 

Old beat up guitar & a wounded Marine

"When my whole world was turned into chaos, music grounded me." said Corporal Brad Fite. "Sitting behind my violin or strumming my guitar was the one place my injuries didn't matter. I could be normal again, even if it was only for that one song." 

On July 20, 2010, Brad and his team of United States Marines pushed out for a routine mission in Marjeh, Afghanistan. Minutes later his truck ran over a remote-detonated Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The blast rolled the truck several times, killed one member of the team and left Brad unconscious.  

"My Marines pulled me out and saved my life." Brad admits.

Brad was medi-vacd from the war zone to Landstuhl, Germany. On the medi-vac flight, Brad's heart had to be restarted 3 times. Once he reached Germany countless surgeries began. The bomb had left Brad's body a broken mess--he

Martin Guitar for trick's and a trade

One of my clients recently contacted me about a neck reset i did for her on a 1936 Martin 00 -17 with some very surprising news at that! 

Most of us Vintage Guitar collectors and players have been told at one point or another that doing a neck reset on a vintage guitar will affect the value of it on the vintage guitar market, making it fetch less than it could have if was untouched.     Well, I to believed that until, i open this recent email from Sue and learned that she had taken the guitar to be appraised after I had completed the neck reset on it. The excitement when I opened this letter nearly made me cry! Enjoy the following read! 

Fret replacement or fret dress?

​This post is in response to an email i recently received and, i thought it might be some helpful information for yall!

 Client Writes:

Hi, James. I stopped by last Thursday to get an idea of the cost of repairing some fret wear. I have a couple further questions. To refresh your memory:

Fender Squier CV50 Telecaster neck.
First fret, divots beneath the high E and especially the B.
Some wear on frets two and three.
Remaining frets in pretty good shape.
 

You might decide it would be better to replace the first fret
Can I give you just the neck?
Does it significantly affect your estimate?

Thanks, Client                                                         

 

My Response:

Hello Mr, Client

Yes i do remember our conversation :0)

If the divots in the first couple frets are to deep then it may be a good idea to replace the first couple frets then, do a complete fret dress to tie everything together. Replacing some frets and doing a fret dress combined would be a little additional usually $20 per to replace a fret but if we went that route i would make you a package deal.

Something else to keep in mind.

If the frets have been dressed in the past there is a possibility

​Acoustic guitar review 

​Rob Smith of Timberline Guitars and Steel Rutherford Films stopped by our repair shop in Sunny Southern California recently to get a little feed back from us on the T 80 DC. One of Timberline's newest additions to there fantastic line of acoustic guitars. Needless to say there were some magical moments in the shop that day. Sean Hutchinson and i each had a Timberline guitar in our hands and something special happened that Steele caught on film! This is Sean and I's world debut as the new acoustic guitar instrumental duo, Ginger & Blond. But in all seriousness, these guitars just sing and feel so good when you play them! So here's the video. Enjoy!

If you like it then share it! :0)

​Pure Acoustic Guitar Tone

Imagine... you have scrimped & saved and tightened your belt for that one guitar. You know the one were talking about... It strikes something deep inside your soul when you strum it's strings, when you, smell inside the sound hole, it's blended aromas of rosewood & spruce flips a switch in your brain. Something happens and it is so hard to explain but it call's out for your hands to become one with it's fret board & makes your heart jump with excitement. You know... this is... the right guitar for you.

So, now that we have covered some basic human emotion, and physical responses that take place when we connect with the right guitar, mandolin or any stringed instrument for that mater. 

Lets explorer what we want in an acoustic guitar or instrument pickup.Lets ask this question: If you love the sound of your acoustic guitar, which is a big reason why you bought it in the first place, and... you know your friend that you brought with you said it sounded amazing as well. Wouldn't it make sense to have a pickup installed that is going to capture as much of that pure acoustic sound as possible?

Tell you what! The answer to that question 99.99% of the time is yes absolutely! ::::: Read more:::::>

​Loaner

Living in a border town in Yuma Az, has it's sides. Hot in the summer i mean really hot like lets leave town and go to the San Diego beaches and PF Chang's hot and cold in the winter. These massive temperature changes are rough on guitars and a bass alike but some how a band called Loaner manages to stay in tune. With the culture of the boarder town rock scene despite the harsh climate changes Doug the founder of LOANER family man and writer of all the songs manages to find the right backing musicians to make the thing come alive.

With A Dave Grohl Foo Fighters vocal style, great melodies commanding presence and down tuned guitars, if your into this kind of heavy rock then check them out. A great artist for your playlist no doubt and a good commute to work and home.  Doug plays Schecter guitars and anything else if it sounds good enough. He really wants to capture the more organic side of the Rock., no synth or scratching aloud just strings skins and a raspy vocal. If you ever get the chance to meet Doug.. you will never forget that you did.

check there latest video out and share this post if you dig it.

​Broken Les Paul head stock 

My client who i repaired a badly broken gibson Les Paul head stock for has a couple of young boys with a band called Zip Zap. These boys are hitting it at a young age! I think if they keep going they will be met with great opportunities.

Zip Zap will have seven new original songs on ITunes later this month. There next show is coming up March 31st.....playing at the Jr. Carlsbad Run in the am & then at the end of April at the House of Blues. Followed by the Encinitas street fair then the County fairs and the beach feast ...more details to come.

Like and share Zip Zap's Facebook Page here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Zip-Zap/337335088779

These guys are brothers and there young. Keep going guys!

Here is one of the many videos Zip Zap has done. Looks like the Les Paul I fixed up is center stage.